


Golden Gift of the Serpent

by mightyfinestride27



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Reading the Books, well sort of
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-31
Updated: 2014-03-31
Packaged: 2018-01-17 17:56:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1397152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mightyfinestride27/pseuds/mightyfinestride27
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Horcroxes were not what was keeping Tom Riddle alive. That was something else. Something dark and ancient. And Harry is going to trap it. The only problem was what he was going to lose in the process. But as people say when you hit rock bottom, the only way you can go is up. Harry/Tom.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Harry looked down at the box in his hands silently as he contemplated what he had to do. The battle had already started outside, the ceiling of Dumbledore's office already shaking with the might of the magic that was being performed downstairs. Without that, it would have seemed as if he was still a young student, getting in trouble for sneaking around the corridors at night or god forbid slaying a Basilisk with a sword. Compared to the present it almost seems safe and cosy back then.

He turned the box, admiring its intricate design and the fact that such a pretty box could have cause such destruction and death. Such a simple thing, only about the size of a jewellery box. It had writing on the front which read Fluturimi i vdekjes in silver engraving.

Harry sighed as he put down the box and turned back to the pensieve that he had just viewed. Dumbledore was right about most of it, but the Horcroxes were not what was keeping Tom Riddle alive. That was something else. Something darker and ancient, which people have feared for eons, maybe even since humanity began. There was no way to kill such a being, only trap it.

Which is just what Harry intended to do. The only problem is what he'll lose in the process. 

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Tom Riddle gritted his teeth as he stared at his partner opposite him. His blood was boiling in his veins, the merciless struggle for dominance of his body putting a strain on his already weakened frame. He hated this. Finally he is in control of his body and actions and his body was failing him and before long it would be back under control of him, Voldemort.

Solemn blood-red eyes gazed lovingly into the sad emerald jewels, both knowing that this might very well be the last time they will be seeing each other in this life. In fact, it is almost certain to be the last.

"Are you sure?", Harry said, unable to hold back a hint of desperation, silently wishing for Tom to reconsider.

"This is the only way, my love and you know that," Tom says, a soft if slightly pained smile on his lips.

Harry took a deep breath and shakily nodded. Tom's smile widened and his face lit up with affection and love mixed in with every emotion; fear, anger, sorrow, loss, happiness and relief all in one. This seemed to give Harry courage and after returning it with just as much feeling, he began.

"capisso umbra ex suus animus

diluo is ex suus essentia

probo suus inchoo novus"

[Take the shadow from his soul

Purge it from his essence/being

Let him begin anew].

His words practically vibrated with power so much so that the air around them seemed to ripple and contort like a heat wave, only exceedingly more powerful with a luminescent effect creating flashes of colored light that streaked through the air. Then suddenly they all collided forming a blinding multi-coloured ball of light about the size of a basket ball just above their heads.

The ball of energy dropped slightly until it was level with their heads before shooting straight towards Tom. It hit him directly over the heart and entered his chest. The ball of light re-emerged, dragging something else behind it. It was a mass of darkness almost smoke like and as black as night. It made the air colder by its mere presence along with the pungent aroma of rotting meat and decay.

The dark mass, realizing its predicament, struggling to get free and return to the relative safety of Tom's body. The light seemed to know this and held on even tighter and trapped it in a cocoon of light which it had no escape from. The light hovered for a second before resuming its place between the two men along with the trapped darkness.

Smoke like in its consistency, the dark mass probed with wisps of darkness, looking for an exit. When it couldn't find one, it morphed into a grotesque face, the twisted face of Lord Voldemort. It screamed in rage before returning to a formless mass.

Rummaging through his bag Harry pulled out a thick leather-bound book. It had the words 'corruptela' written in faded gold lettering on the spine and cover. A number of chains and binding of different sizes and materials covered its surface. It was clearly made to keep whatever trapped inside its pages locked away and impossible to physically open once bound shut. The book looked at least a thousand years old and still in good condition.

Harry opened it, revealing fresh blank pages, just waiting to be filled.

The ball of light seemed to hesitated for a second before diving down straight into the spine of the book. Deep black ink seeped into the pages filling them with an ancient unknown script. Now full to the brim, the book slammed itself shut and the bindings began to lock into place. The book thrashed violently, only stopping when the last chain was locked into place.

Silence rained down on the courtyard and the world seemed to pause for a second, even the shouts and spells being cast seemed to end. It was only broken when tom uttered a pained groan and nearly fell to his knees on the stone floor. Harry jumped forward as if to catch him if he did fall, the book still tightly held to his chest.

"Harry," Tom said croakily, "you'll need to bury the book in the grounds of Hogwarts in the box. She can look after it and keep it from falling into anyone's hands."

"Of course. What do you take me for? An idiot or stupid?" Harry said choking back a small sob.

"Both obviously," Tom said with a smirk.

Harry let out a watery chuckle which was shared.

Tom's body was beginning to disintegrate into dust and ash which was being blown away slowly by the wind. Already his legs had disappeared and his lower body soon followed.

"I love you Harry, and known I will always love you. In this life and the next. We will meet again just as we did in this life so this isn't a goodbye. Just a goodbye for now."

That brought a smile to Harry's face,

"Goodbye for now. And I love you too you Prat,"

Before Tom was completely gone from this world, he uttered something. Something too quiet to be heard clearly but whatever it was caused Tom's face to light up. He smiled at Harry one last time and was gone.

Harry stared at the place Tom last stood, unable to will his body to move. His body felt numb and his mind was oddly void of all emotions. he knew somewhere deep down that he was in shock but it was hard to even think let alone piece things together.

"HARRY!" voices screamed from the distance.

He turned, the loudness jarring him somewhat out of his shock. Ron and Hermione were running up to him, looking at him in disbelief and hope.

"Is he gone Harry?" Hermione said hesitantly.

Harry merely nodded.

Hermione flung herself at him, making the book knock a rib bone painfully. He resisted the urge to wince while trying to look at Ron for help. Ron just looked on in part amusement and part sympathetic.

"Umm, we thought so mate. All the death eaters suddenly fell to the floor clutching their arm so we figured something must have happened," Ron said after Hermione detangled herself, "everyone's gathering in the great hall so c'mon I bet everyone's waiting for you."

Harry was silent as they led him to the great hall. He should really be going back up to Dumbledore's office to get the box and do what Tom asked first but to be honest he needed a pause for a second and his friends presence.

Just as they reached the last corner to the great hall, Harry changed his mind. Two best friends was more than enough.

"Wait!" Harry blurted out.

Ron and Hermione paused and looked back concerned.

"I have to do something first," Harry explained holding up the book.

"Where did you get that, Harry?" Hermione said curiously, her inner bookworm coming out in full strength.

"I need to go get something from Dumbledore's office first. Please, it's very important," Harry pleaded seeing their doubtful faces, "I'll explain everything when we get back."

They both looked at each other for a second before nodding.

"Alright Harry but afterwards we go to the great hall. Mums been dying to know if your okay, " Ron said.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It took a lot of convincing to get them to come back outside after they had gone to get the box from Dumbledore's office but the courtyard outside is the one of many strong points in Hogwarts energy.

"What are you doing?" Ron said utterly confused.

Harry ignored him, consumed with finding a good spot to bury it. There! Harry could feel Hogwarts hum in approval at this spot and she has never led him wrong once. Using his wand to move the dirt, he made a hole about a meter deep and just wide enough that the box slid in the hole cleanly. He placed the book in the box carefully and sealed the box shut. He then wrapped a piece of fabric around the box and lowered it all into the hole, despite Hermione's protests. Using his wand he covered the hole and felt with his magic that Hogwarts would protect this spot.

"Harry! You're glowing! "Hermione shouted.

That was the last thing he heard before lights were the only thing he could see and then the world faded back into blackness.


	2. Chapter 2

Darkness was all he could see. An infinite blackness with no light and sound and the only sensation was a light touch of wind. It was almost like he was flying through the air with his eyes closed and ears muted. However this couldn't be true because his eyes were wide open and the beat of his heart rang heavily in his ears. He had been 'flying' through this empty space for what felt like decades although it was rather hard to tell the passage of time in this empty abyss.

"Am I dead?" Harry thought, "The irony is that all those times I was so close to death from Voldemort or his merry band of men and I get killed by something unknown. Just my luck to be stuck with figuring out what killed me for Merlin knows how long. I bet Tom's laughing at me from wherever he is. At least hopefully it won't be long before I can get my own back in some devious scheme."

Before he could think of one, a light emerged from the distance. However cliché it may be, it was like the light at the end of a long tunnel. It got brighter and brighter before it grew so bright that Harry had to shield his eyes with his hands and squeeze his eyes tightly shut to shield from the intensity of it.

The world came back into focus and with it sensation returned. He was warm and wrapped in softness. As he opened his eyes he realised that he was in a bed. Not a hospital bed because Harry of all people knew what waking up in a hospital bed felt like. No, this was much more comfortable. And soft. It was dark inside but a slither of light escaped from the cracks in what looked like curtains. It was difficult to dissemble from the covers but he managed, only to trip over a stray blanket which snagged his foot as he was climbing out of bed. It caused him to topple forward into the curtain's, the very curtain's he was aiming for.

He pulled back the curtains with a snap, and whatever Harry had expected to greet him, it certainly wasn't this. It was a boys bedroom, a teenagers by how the 7th year textbooks that were piled precariously on top of each other on the oak wood desk in the far corner. Whoever this teenager was, he certainly had a massive obsession with Quidditch. Giant moving posters of Quidditch players plastered the wall, occasionally broken up by posters of what looked like musicians and bands. Harry liked Quidditch, loved it in fact, but wasn't so obsessed with it that he felt the need to decorate most of his room with it.

Harry looked at the bed he was just lying on. It was a beautiful four-post bed with intricate carvings of plant life woven up its pillars. The ark shaped headboard had decoration of a variety of woodland animals, including many magical creatures. Four carvings caught his eye. A stag and a doe stood together along with a large grim-like dog and a massive wolf. Harry nearly jumped out of his skin when the stag tossed its head and pranced past the dog, the others springing to life and chasing after it. He watched them bemused before turning back to the rest of the room.

The room was fitted with all the basic necessities of a bedroom and the only exception to this rule was that near the open window stood a bird's perch, which was currently void of any animal life. Also another clue of this persons identity was a truck with the Gryffindor logo, proudly facing in Harry's direction. You would have to be an idiot to not realise that this room belonged to Gryffindor, with all the Gryffindor related items such as the scarf hanging on the back of the chair and the tie which was dangling from the wardrobe. Overall it was a very Gryffindor orientated room.

Harry spotted his wand on the bedside table and picked it up. Now feeling safer with a wand in his grasp, he gave himself a quick overall glance. He looked different, healthier, and not as skinny as he had been. His bones were less pronounced, which could only be achieved with proper and regular meals. He had been dressed in a pair of red pyjamas which were loose and were not very flattering on his now toned figure, one which definitely wasn't there before.

He looked in the wardrobe for something to wear and picked the first things he could find, a plain black t-shirt and a pair of dark denim jeans. Now he was ready to face whatever was beyond that door. After all, it wouldn't be right to do battle while still wearing pyjamas.

He opened the door and peeked his head out. It was silent, and the corridor and the rooms beyond it appeared deserted.

He stepped into the corridor and began to make his way toward his great escape.

As he navigated the corridors, it seemed whoever owned this place had considerable wealthy. The place was massive with wide rooms and high ceilings. a place this big should feel empty or void of life but it wasn't. the way the place was decorated created a warm and lived in atmosphere. The décor looked just as expensive as the malfor manor but because of how they had used the space, there was none of the cold and unwelcoming feeling that the Malfor's radiated. It had the feeling of a house that was filled with laughter and love.

He came to a staircase and went down it silently. a choice awaited him at the bottom. One staircase to the right led downstairs to the groundfloor and the other facing forwards went back up but to the other side of the house. It was a choice between going forward or going right.

He closed his eyes and stuck his hand out, "Eenie meenie miney mo, catch a wizard by his toe. If he's armed let him go. Eenie meenie miney mo."

His hand stopped and he opened his eyes. It was pointing to the right. Downstairs it is.

He carefully made his way downstairs to the ground floor and approached the first door directly off the staircase out of curiosity. It was silent and there seemed to be no movement on the other side of the door.

"Ahh, what's the worse that could happen?" Harry thought, "oh yes death, torture or something horrible. Funny how that can slip your mind. Might as well have a peek."

Readying his wand Harry pushed the door open a crack.

"Surprise!"

Harry, too shocked to speak, could only stare and let the door swing open and bounce off the wall.

"This is a dream right? It's must be. Because I'm pretty sure dead people don't suddenly spring back to life and decide; what the hell, let's throw a surprise birthday party. Then it really would be a surprise." Harry thought.

"Is this a dream?", he said out loud to himself.

In front of him was possible the strangest group of people he had ever seen. Most were wearing party hats of different colors. A large banner that stretched the length of the living room had the message "Happy 18th birthday Harry" in bold handwriting.

What was even more miraculous was the party guests. Some shouldn't even be in the land of the living, let alone at a birthday party. Harry spotted Professor Dumbledore looking at him with grandfatherly concern from an armchair. Both Remus and Sirius were standing together with smile on faces before concern flitted across their handsome features. The faces of Hermione and Ron popped out of the crowd as well as Luna and Neville. The Weasley family, Professor McGonagall and a rather bored looking Professor Snape were all present.

In the center of the room was Lily and James potter, Harry's mum and dad, very much alive and looking older than they did in the clearing. They looked worried, probably wondering why their son was standing there doing a brilliant impression of a goldfish. Lily had her hand on the shoulder of a young girl, no more than eight years, who was holding hands with a teenage boy who looking around thirteen. In James's arms was a squirming toddler no more than two years old. Each and every one of them was staring at harry in confusion.

There was an awkward silence.

Lily hesitantly asked "Are you alright Harry?"

"She speaks", Harry blinked and tried to think of a reasonable response. His brain seemed to have gone on holiday.

"I'm fine", "Damn you brain", Harry thought sarcastically, "what should I say? Sorry guy's. There's clearly been some mistake. Last time I checked I was alive and completely sane."

Before he was able to think of anything else to say, his mouth rebelled by replied for him.

"I don't know what is going on but I think there's been some mistake. I'm harry but I'm not your Harry." Harry said. "Well done you explained that really well," A small voice in his head said sarcastically. "Great. Now even my own conscience has developed an attitude problem," Harry thought. 

The crowd looked bewildered and worried, not sure how to respond and silently hoping for Harry to yell something along the lines of 'ha your faces' or 'just kidding'.

Lily and James looked at each other briefly before James said with frustration, "Then who the hell are you? If this is a joke it's not funny Harry."

"It's not a joke," Harry thought, "if I knew what was going on I would tell you. It's like I've dropped into someone else's life." At this thought Harry's mind began to race. Just before he finally faded, Tom had chanted a spell of some kind. Could that be what caused this? Just what did it do exactly?

Then it clicked.

"He messed with the timelines."


End file.
